Jack Straw

Jack Straw (3 August 1946-) was the Labour MP for Blackburn from 3 May 1979 to 30 March 2015, succeeding Barbara Castle and preceding Kate Hollern.

Biography
Jack Straw was born in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, England in 1946, and he joined the Labour Party while studying law at the University of Leeds. He practiced criminal law from 1972 to 1974, and, from 1971 to 1974, he was a member of the Inner London Education Authority. Straw went on to become an advisor to MP Barbara Castle at the Department of Social Security from 1974 to 1976, and he was elected to Parliament in 1970 to succeed the retiring Castle as MP for Blackburn. He served as Home Secretary from 2 May 1997 to 8 June 2001 during Tony Blair's premiership and then as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 8 June 2001 to 5 May 2006, Leader of the House of Commons from 5 May 2006 to 27 June 2007, and Secretary of State for Justice and Lord High Chancellor from 2007 to 2010. He stood down from the frontbench at the 2010 Labour Shadow Cabinet election, and he retired in 2015.